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9 Things All Moms of Toddlers Miss About the Baby Stage

by Nicole Fabian-Weber on August 29, 2016

Nicole Fabian-Weber

About the Author

Nicole Fabian-Weber is the mama to a sweet toddler girl with a little boy on the way! She lives outside of New York City and writes for various websites.

About the Blog

WhatToExpect.com supports Word of Mom as a place to share stories and highlight the many perspectives and experiences of pregnancy and parenting. However, the opinions expressed in this section are those of individual writers and do not reflect the views of Heidi Murkoff of the What to Expect brand.

Stocksy

Toddlers, with their hilariously perceptive questions and adorable mispronunciation of words, are certainly some of the world’s cutest people. But every once in awhile — maybe, oh, on a particularly tantrumy day — a mom might long for a year or so ago when her baby was still, you know, an actual baby.

The toddler stage is full of all sorts of wonderfulness, but practically every parent misses these nine things about the baby stage when their little ones start walking, talking, and destroying.

1. How much lighter they were. Just because a child knows how to walk, doesn’t mean they’ll want to walk. (Unless you’re in a super crowded place — then they want to run!) Parents are typically over carrying their kiddos once they enter the 25-35 pound weight class. That’s a lot of weight to be lugging around! (And said weight is wiggly.) Toting around a little baby is so much easier — and forgiving on the back — than carrying a feisty toddler. We all love cradling our children, no matter their age, but talk about a workout.

2. Going to the bathroom without the fear that a tiny human is destroying the house. Lest you have a particularly rare breed of 2- or 3-year-old, it kind of goes without saying that there’s a fair chance that something will break or spill when you head to the bathroom or have the gall to wash the dishes in the sink. Silence With Babies = Good. Silence With Toddlers = Terrifying.

3. Wearing them. Yes, there are all sorts of toddler carriers out there, but it’s not nearly as easy to pop your walking, talking child into a carrier and hit the town. Not only is it not as comfy, odds are they’ll want to get down at the most inconvenient time. Cruising around with your baby in the carrier is so easy. And let’s get real here: The snuggles are sublime.

4. Snuggling. Which brings us to snuggling! Toddlers have things to do, places to be, rooms to explore! They don’t have time for no stinkin’ snuggling. Babies, on the other hand, are basically designed for cuddling and snuggling. Best. Feeling. Ever.

5. Doing things for them without a tantrum. With a baby, you simply put on their shoes or coat when leaving the house, and that’s that. With a toddler, you’ll either be met with protest because they want to do it themselves (hope you have an hour to spare), or a meltdown simply because #toddlers.

6. Swaddling. Because, seriously, what in this world is cuter than a baby burrito?

7. Their smell. Again, few things can rival the scent of a brand-new baby’s head. (Weird? A little. But impossible to resist!)

8. Baby baths. A baby bath and a toddler bath are two very different things. While both are adorable, with the former, parents get to suds up a little butterball who essentially thinks the most fascinating thing in the world is baby shampoo. With the latter, you’ll likely wind up drenched.

9. Naps on mama or dada’s chest. Sure, you may get the occasional “nap on you” out of your toddler, but it’s pretty much programmed in every baby’s DNA to fall asleep the minute their little heads snuzzle into their parent’s neck. Heavenly.

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